It was just my luck that that was the same night something else went wrong on my watch. In the hours that followed my visit from Davi, I had sat in the cave entrance, scowling out at the arena outside and waiting for the next surprise. I couldn't get the sight of the cuts across his body out of my mind. No matter how many hours I thought about it, how many different ways I tried to come at the problem, I always came to the same conclusion.

And it wasn't pretty. Every now and then, the Hunger Games would get to a tribute, psychologically speaking. It wasn't unusual to see a tribute lose it completely on occasion. It had been a good few years since the last as far as I could remember, so the Capitol was probably lapping this up. If you're right, Blake, a small voice in the back of my head pointed out. You might just be getting carried away.

But I thought it was unlikely. Something Davi said had stuck in my head. Still have her . . .

A growling noise cut off my train of thought. I tensed, frowning as I scanned the stream banks. There was no movement, no sign of anything living down there, and even if there was, it wouldn't be able to reach us up here.

The noise sounded again, louder this time, and I twisted on the spot, my heart leaping into my throat. It was coming from the back of the cave. Immediately, my nerves were on end and adrenaline rushed through my veins. Shifting onto my feet, I crept forward, keeping low to the ground with my crossbow in hand. Inching forward, I moved past the sleeping Layton, eyeing Iris and Myles to make sure they were still there and unharmed. Another growl sounded, even further into the cave, and I realised with a jolt that we'd been set up. The Gamemakers had released some sort of animal into the cave while we were sleeping, and now they were getting protective of their territory.

Pursing my lips, I moved around the camp fire and made to wake Myles, the most likely to be able to help me take the beast down, but I'd barely made it to my own pack - half way across the cave - when the animal showed itself.

It stepped out of the darkness, its limbs twitching and its teeth bared. A wolf, I realised, but this was larger than any I'd ever seen before. Its muscles were at least twice the size, and its teeth were sharper than daggers. Worse than that, its eyes were locked on me. Even worse, another wolf moved out from behind the first, only a little smaller and slimmer. A female, probably.

There was no time to wake Myles anymore. My body had locked in place, and any movement would have set the wolves off. I'd moved close enough to my pack to reach my knife, but just looking at these animals, I was sure it wouldn't be enough to even bring one of them down, let alone kill the beast. Panic started to rise, and the wolves snarled loudly, lowering their heads toward the ground in warning. I had to stop them getting to the others. But how?

An idea clicked, but it was risky for several reasons. After all, people might get the wrong idea when they saw me throw a knife at Myles's head.

No choice, I decided, and without hesitating, I lunged for the knife and launched it through the air, skimming by Myles's ear. I'd barely made out the splash of red now covering his skin when the wolves barked loudly and launched at me. My heart racing, I shot the first straight between the eyes, and it crumbled to the ground, its front legs giving way beneath it. But I didn't have nearly enough time to load another bolt as the second leapt straight over the first and collided with my front.

Adrenaline surged through me in fear, and I crashed to the solid ground. Vaguely, I was aware of Iris screaming in fright, and a sharp pain shot through me as my head slammed into the rock beneath me. Immediately, I was fighting to keep conscious, and the only thing I was aware of was the hot breath trailing down the side of my neck.

And then sharp teeth tore through my shoulder and I yelled out in agony. I barely registered the teeth being torn out of my skin, and the sickening sound of the animal being speared through the chest.

"Blake!" Iris whimpered, and I felt hot hands against the cold skin on my face. "Blake, can you hear me?"

I groaned quietly. "Ouch," I mumbled. "Guys, I think we were set up."

She let out a small, saddened chuckle, and I felt someone else lower themselves to their knees on my other side. "No kidding," Myles's grumble came. "Iris, take this. Patch her up. I'll make sure there are no more."

"Okay," she said shakily. "Layton, can you get a damp cloth please?" I heard him mumble in agreement, and the sound of Iris rummaging through the medical kit, but most of my concentration was still focused on keeping myself awake. I couldn't give in. Not on the third day of the Games.

Suddenly a cold, wet cloth was being pressed into my shoulder and I winced sharply, my eyes snapping open in shock. "Ah!" I moaned. "Jeez, you could have given me some warning!"

Iris frowned at me gently, pushing my head down gently. "Keep still. These puncture wounds are quite deep. We're going to have to stitch it up to stop the bleeding, but you're going to have to keep still, okay?"

"Don't have much of a choice," I pointed out wryly, and I ground my teeth together as I watched her pull out a needle and thin wire from her medical kit.

I tried not to wince or yell out, but I found myself holding my breath instead. It took her almost fifteen minutes to stitch the wound up, and by the time she'd done, all the skin around it was tingling and numb, now in so much pain I couldn't feel anything in that shoulder. Layton had shifted to prop me up while she worked, continuously pouring water over my shoulder to wash away the blood.

Finally, when she'd finished stitching, she wrapped a bandage around it tightly, then slipped my jacket back over my shoulder. "Just be careful," Iris instructed. "Try not to move it too much."

"Should be easy," I snorted, pushing myself upright with a wince.

"Here," Layton offered, holding out a canister of water to me. "You should drink something. We might as well get something to eat, too. Looks like we'll be moving again soon."

Iris nodded. "He's right. I'll cook some of the meat."

"Okay," I agreed, taking a swig of water. Then, slowly, I clambered to my feet and wavered on the spot. "I'd best go and make sure Myles is alright."

"What?" Iris breathed. "Blake, you need to rest!"

My lips pursed. "I'm not sure there's time for that," I mumbled. She frowned in confusion, opening her mouth to question me further but I held up my good hand with a grimace. "Later. Let's eat and get out of this cave first. I'll be back in a minute." Both she and Layton looked like they wanted to argue, but I scooped my crossbow back off the floor and painstakingly loaded another bolt, ignoring the agonising pain in my left shoulder.

Slowly, I made my way to the back of the cave. Myles was spinning his spear in his hands, his back to me. I leant heavily against the wall for support as I moved, and my hand slipped across the rock face loudly. He glanced back with a frown, tightening his hold on his spear. "You should be resting," he instructed.

"Save it," I winced, continuing forward. "No time for that. You find anything?"

He nodded. "I think I know how the Gamemakers made those wolves so defensive." He stepped aside as I pushed myself closer to the back of the cave, and my eyes wide as I noticed a wolf cub curled into a tight ball, sleeping soundly.

"Ah," I grimaced. "That makes sense." At the sound of my voice, the cub yawned with a high-pitched yelp, curling up tighter and covering its nose with the tip of its tail. My lips twisted and I shifted on the spot.

"Everything okay?" Iris's voice came. "What did you find?" Myles and I turned to face her as she moved closer, frowning curiously.

"Nothing much," I sighed, side-stepping so that she could see the cub.

Immediately, she gasped and clamped her hands over her chest. "Oh my!" she breathed, lowering herself to her knees in front of it. "Isn't it adorable?"

Myles snorted as I choked, leaning against the wall for support again. "Adorable?" I stared. "You realise it's parents just tried to kill me?" She waved me away dismissively as the cub peered over its tail, searching for the cause of the noise. It pinned its ears back as Iris slowly reached out toward it, letting her hand fall gently on top of its head. After a moments indecision, the cub rubbed its hand into the palm of her hand.

"What are we going to do with it?" she asked, giggling at it licked her fingertips.

"What do you mean?" Myles frowned.

She glanced up, surprised. "Well, we can't leave it here! It'll starve without its parents!"

He went rigid, staring back at her in astonishment, and I gawped. "Iris, this is the Hunger Games! You can't keep a pet!"

She shot me a look, but reluctantly pushed herself to her feet, leaving the cub staring up at her with dark chocolate eyes. "Come on," she mumbled. "The food will be ready soon."

"We need to move quickly," Myles said, stepping around her and pulling my good arm around his shoulders before I could complain. A wince slipped my lips as the stitched up skin stretched painfully, but he just tightened his hold and started leading me back toward the camp fire.

"Blake," Layton gulped, staring at me with wide eyes. "You look like you saw a ghost."

I snorted. "Only a baby one," I countered, and Iris scowled. "We should eat this on the move. We can't stay here much longer."

"You can barely stand!" Layton argued.

"I get stronger with food and water," I dismissed, taking my arm away from Myles and stumbling a step away from him. His eyebrows tightened, but he made no attempt to argue. I fixed him with an intense gaze. "But we have to move."

Iris and Layton glanced between the two of us silently, and for a while, Myles simply frowned. Then, slowly, he nodded. "Get packed up," he told the other two. "We leave in ten minutes." Layton immediately made to follow his instructions, leaving Iris to grumble about it irritably under her breath.

I moved to follow their example, albeit a little slower. Iris had already wrapped the meat and handed out the morning rations, as well as stamping out the fire, while I feebly managed to stuff my sleeping bag into my pack one-handed. Throwing it over my good shoulder, I unsteadily pushed myself to my feet and reluctantly allowed Myles to help me out of the cave.

"This had better heal over soon," I growled through my teeth, clutching my injured arm into my chest. But Myles wasn't listening. He moved a few paces ahead of me, his hands tightening around his spear and his eyes narrowed.

"What?" Layton gulped. "What's wrong?"

"Shush," Myles dismissed, and I tensed at the look on his face. Fear shot through me at the thought of there being something wrong, and being completely unable to help. He glanced over his shoulder at Iris and me with a frown. "Do you hear that?"

The two of us paused, straining to hear what he was talking about. For a second, there was nothing but the sound of the waterfall beside us. Then, slowly, I heard what he was talking about; small bleeps coming from overhead, and getting closer.

"What is that?" I blinked, turning my crossbow carefully in my uninjured hand. No one answered, waiting in silence as the sound grew closer and closer, until finally, something small and silver drifted over the trees and landed with a soft thump on the ground in front of us.

After a moment's silence, Iris gave an excited squeak and rushed forward, snatching the silver canister off the floor and lifting it up to the light. As I watched, her shoulders sagged in relief and she beamed back at me, jogging back and holding it out to me.

"It's yours," she smiled.

I blinked, shifting awkwardly at the look I got from Layton as I pursed my lips and slipped my crossbow over my good shoulder to take the canister. Iris smiled with a nod of encouragement, hesitating as she watched me wince and twist the canister open.

Inside was a small tube of clear gel, and note written on a thin slip of card; That looks deep ~ F Immediately, I knew what it was. This gel was state-of-the-art medication from the Capitol, and would probably easily stop the bleeding in my shoulder, before I lost too much blood. But why was Finnick sending it to me? That was definitely what the 'F' stood for, but why him and not Seeder or Chaff?

Then it clicked. Because he's more popular with the Capitol citizens. What irritated me most was that, despite what I'd previously told him, he was still trying to keep me alive.

This must have showed on my face, because Iris's smile faltered. "What's wrong?" she blinked.

I pursed my lips, grimacing at her and snapping the canister shut again. "Nothing. It's great, I'll sort it later. Right now, we need to get away from here before the others start moving toward us."

Myles nodded in agreement, swinging his backpack onto his shoulders and straightening out. "We should have enough food to focus on making some distance today," he said. "But we can't keep moving without some form of plan. Sooner or later, we're going to have to face the other tributes."

Layton made a small whimpering noise beside me, earning him another glower from Myles, but Iris ignored them both. "Leave it for today," she pleaded. "Just until we can take a proper look at Blake's shoulder." Her eyes dropped to the wound, which despite her stitching, was still seeping blood fairly quickly.

I frowned. "I'm fine. Myles's is right. There's no point in just staying alive if it gets us nowhere."

Her lips pursed. "Let's just move today," she dismissed. Myles shot me a look, and I knew what he meant. As strong as Iris was, she wasn't going to make the choice to kill anyone unless she had no other option. And Layton was next to useless in almost every situation. Which meant it was down to us two, and I wasn't exactly in fighting condition right now.

My eyes dropped to the canister, and my jaw locked. Again, I found myself asking why it had to be him, of all people. Surely if he was backing me in the Capitol, the whole city knew about it. That only means more sponsors, and more help, the logical part of my mind pointed out.

Yeah, but more distance from District 11, I thought sourly. Which meant I was closer to District 4, and that meant I was closer to the Capitol.

It was a fact I couldn't shake for the rest of the morning. It kept circling my mind, taunting and teasing me. Would it even matter now anyway? I wasn't going to make it out of this arena, and I was determined to keep one of the others alive. What did it matter whose help I accepted to make that happen?

But it did matter. It mattered to me.

We continued through the woods silently for the rest of the morning, careful to keep quiet and cover our tracks as we went. Even Layton seemed to be a little more alert, although he'd inch closer to me whenever he heard something else move.

By midday, we had to stop and rest. Partly because Layton was beginning to get loud again due to fatigue, but mostly because my shoulder was now bleeding so heavily thick trails of blood rushed under my jacket and the loss of so much of it made my head spin and my stomach heave.

"I'm alright," I managed to mutter as we stumbled to a small clearing, catching myself against a nearby tree trunk.

"No, Blake, you're not," Iris scolded, and I shot her a half-hearted scowl.

"Say it a bit louder, I'm not sure the other tributes heard you," I replied sourly, allowing her to lower me to the ground in front of the tree. She gave me an apologetic grimace, but said nothing as she set to tending to the wound. A wince slipped through my teeth as she peeled back the bandage. She paled at the sight of it, and behind her, Layton turned his back to us, gagging loudly.

"I-I'll get some water," he stammered, hurrying to fetch the flask from his bag.

My lips twisted as I watched him, taking long, slow breaths in an effort to calm the churning in my stomach. "That bad, huh?" I asked Iris quietly.

Her eyes flicked up to mine worriedly, but she shook her head. "It'll be fine," she assured me with a quiet voice. "Honestly, it's just trying to keep it still long enough for it to heal over, and I don't think I need to point out that this isn't exactly the easiest place to get some rest."

I snorted sourly. "No kidding."

Iris gnawed the inside of her cheek, eyeing my expression cautiously for a moment, as though she was wondering how far to push me. "We'll rest here for a few hours," she finally murmured. "Eat. Drink. Myles and I will set up some traps to keep the other tributes away for the afternoon."

Immediately, I tried to shake my head, but the movement made me gag. Wincing, Iris caught my shoulders before the dizziness sent me crashing to the ground, her hands tightening to keep me upright. "We can't stay here all afternoon," I argued weakly.

"No choice now," Myles's stern voice came, and I blinked wearily to see him striding across to the tree I was slumped against. He dropped his bag against my legs and spun his spear dangerously, scowling at Layton. "You, keep an eye out and stay with Blake. Mess up, and I might just decide you're not worth the bother. Got it?"

Layton paled, and I glowered pathetically, trying to take a breath to snap at him, but the cold air hit my stomach and I had to clamp my lips shut before I gagged. So instead, Layton lowered himself down beside me and the two of us watched as Myles and Iris reluctantly moved away to set their traps.

Layton hesitated a moment, eyeing me curiously. "So did you know Myles in 4?"

I scoffed with a tiniest smile before I could help it. "You could say that," I managed to mumble.

"You dated?"

I choked, wincing sharply when my shoulder twisted angrily, sending pain rushing through my body. "No," I snorted. "Myles was the school bully when I was a kid. I despised him and his friends. Why would you think that?"

He flushed slightly, shrugging a shoulder. "He seems protective, that's all."

My lips twisted, and I leant back cautiously and took a deep breath through my nose. "Myles and I never saw eye to eye. On anything. But despite all his flaws, I guess I respected him. A little, at least."

"What? I thought you said he was a bully?" Layton blinked.

"He was," I conceded. "But only to the kids who needed an extra incentive to train harder. I wasn't always this handy with a crossbow, you know. And he was always awful to Iris when she was younger. She didn't take to some of the things the other kids did quite as easily."

"Like what?" he asked, eager for more knowledge about another District. I opened one eye wearily, my lips tugging.

"Swimming, for one. That's how I met her. Her parents paid me to tutor her after school every week. It was slow going, but she got there in the end. Now, she could probably outswim most of the kids her age."

He managed a small laugh. "You're that good a teacher?"

I smirked weakly. "You sound surprised."

His gaze dropped to the ground. "You didn't manage to teach me anything," he mumbled, and my expression fell. "Maybe I'm just a bad student."

"Layton," I sighed, fully intent on trying to say something meaningful and deep. But in that same second, a scream sliced through the air, followed by the stunned, fearful flight of the birds in every tree within a mile's distance.

Suddenly, it felt like someone had dropped an ice cube down my spine, and my muscles clenched in fear. "Iris," I breathed, and Layton whimpered beside me. For that split second, fear and panic rendered me motionless, until it had muddled with my head so much nothing seemed to make sense. Everything was coming through as white noise, and nothing else existed.

Then the second passed, and everything flooded back to me so quickly as I choked, heart hammering. Without thinking, I pushed myself up clumsily and stumbled to the fire Iris and Layton had built in the middle of the clearing. Behind me, Layton took a breath to complain, but I ignored him, my heart thudding furiously in my ears. All I knew was that Iris was in danger, and I had to get to her.

"Blake," Layton started slowly, as I fumbled past my crossbow to reach the bolts. I yanked one out of its quiver and set the tip into the fire, grabbing my bag and taking out Finnick's silver canister.

"Go and draw them this way," I breathed unsteadily at Layton, blinking past the dizziness. The adrenaline rushing through my heart made it beat too fast, forcing more and more blood down my shoulder.

"What?" he choked. "You can barely stand!"

"Iris and Myles set traps," I reminded him. "Now draw them this way! Go!" He hesitated, and I glowered at him, my hands tightening angrily around the canister. He gulped hard and nodded at me, backing up uncertainly.

I turned my back to him, breathing deeply as I unscrewed the canister with a wince and grabbed the gel. There was only a small amount, and I knew it would more than likely take the whole tube to do a decent job, but something held me back. Iris was in danger. What if she needed it? What if Myles needed it?

I hesitated, just long enough to hear Layton shouting to the side, then dropped the gel without touching it and grabbed the bolt. My teeth ground together tightly and my eyes clamped shut. Without the gel, this was going to hurt like hell, but I had to get it over with.

Taking a deep breath, I lifted the bolt and plunged the burning metal straight into my shoulder.

Immediately, the heat burned through my body and I yelled out in agony before I could help myself, pained tears flowing out of my eyes. Distantly, I could hear people rushing toward me, and part of me realised that they might not be friendly, but the rest was in too much pain to respond. Even after the initial pain had dulled slightly, it was all I could do to keep upright and breathing.

"It's her!" an unfamiliar voice came. "It's Hart!"

"Ha!" came a second. "She's injured, quick! Rory'll love this!"

My teeth ground together, and I blinked just enough to see my crossbow a few metres out of my reach. Feet stamped across the ground, closer to me than I'd first thought, and I knew I didn't have enough time to load another bolt. Instead, all I could manage was shifting a little closer and hiding the bolt I'd just burned through my shoulder behind my back, letting my upper body fall to the floor.

The second voice, a girl I didn't recognise, snorted at the sight of me. "Go," she instructed the boy with her. "Find Myles. He can't be far from here, and if we have these two, we have the upper hand when we go back." The boy nodded furiously, and all I could see with a mass of blonde curls on top of his head before he disappeared, racing back into the trees.

The girl watched him go for a moment, her own blonde hair tied back into a ponytail and her eyes narrowed as she stared down at me. "Not such a big shot now, are you?" she sneered, and I mustered the energy to shoot her a glare.

"Can't shoot anything with it over there," I growled, wincing as I jerked my head toward the crossbow lay five feet away. Her eyes drifted back to it, and I tightened my hand around the bolt behind me while she wasn't looking. Her lips twitched smugly, and she knelt over me, making sure to press her knee straight into my injured shoulder. The pain made me give a half restrained yelp, holding the rest back behind gritted teeth.

"And they said you were the favourite," she scoffed darkly, pushing herself to her feet. "Why don't I kill you with your own weapon? I bet the Capitol will love that." A quiet, agonised groan slipped my lips as her knee left my wound, but I forced myself to keep my eyes open. The girl barely noticed, moving to step over me and toward the crossbow.

Now or never, Blake, I told myself determinedly.

Ignoring the burning pain in my shoulder, I snatched the bolt from behind me and stabbed it as hard as I could into the back of the girl's knee.

Immediately, she crashed to the ground, screaming in agony, and I scrambled to my knees with a groan, stumbling to my crossbow and loading another bolt. Behind me, the girl was trying to get back to her feet. Adrenaline coursed through my veins as I turned back to her, lifting the crossbow to her face.

She went rigid, breathing hard. My shoulder kept twitching in pain, but there was no longer any fresh blood dripping from it. Now, all I could smell was burning flesh. But despite the agony, I knew my life was no longer hanging in the balance.

"Where's Iris?" I snapped furiously. The girl didn't answer, and my jaw locked. "Where is she?"

She snorted sourly. "You have no idea what's going on, do you?"

"Answer me!" I snarled at her.

"The girl doesn't matter!" she snapped back. "Maybe you should worry a little more about Mr. Talkative back there." I tensed. Myles. They were after Myles. But . . . why? Why target him in particular?

I hesitated, distracted, and the girl lunged at the crossbow in my hand. I leapt in surprise, automatically firing but missing her chest by an inch. She pulled on the weapon, and I staggered forward as she brought her elbow smashing into the side of my face. Dull pain ran through my skull, but compared to the burning in my shoulder, it was nothing. If anything, it only irritated me.

Something about the situation pushed me into autopilot. Flashes of my fighting exercises in the training room blocked my view for a moment, and I moved without thinking. Taking a deep, steadying breath, I twisted and knocked the crossbow bolt from earlier further into her knee. She yelped in a high-pitched voice, crumbling back to the floor, and I wrenched the crossbow from her grip. In the same second, I twisted back to face her and loaded another bow, shooting it straight through her temple.

A cannon fired over head, but I'd already spun on my heel to race after the girl's companion, ignoring the fire in my shoulder. The cold wind bit at the burnt flesh, causing me to wince through my teeth. Still, I didn't stop, until I heard the sound of a guy yelling in agony.

I skidded around a tree, stumbling slightly, just as another cannon fired and Myles straightened out, glancing over his shoulder coolly. I took a ragged, unsteady breath, staring at him with wide eyes.

"We have a problem," he stated calmly. Dropping my eyes to the dead guy on the floor behind him, I nodded slowly.

"So what do we do now?" I breathed, clutching a stitch in my side.

He regarded me coldly. "Kill them before they kill us."